How new technology could help unmask one of Australia's most wanted predators (2024)

They called him Mr. Cruel; masked and malevolent.

An unidentified kidnapper, a serial predator, and a child killer, Mr Cruel chose Melbourne's suburbs as his hunting ground in the late 1980's and early 90's.

Horrifically, he entered protected homes, took young girls in front of their parents, assaulted and traumatised them, and left no forensic trace of his identity.

READ MORE: Breakthrough in Mr. Cruel case: new witness speaks out about potential sighting

How new technology could help unmask one of Australia's most wanted predators (1)

Police considered him as cunning as he was depraved, sparking the largest police investigation and manhunt this country had ever seen.

But Mr Cruel was never captured.

On Under Investigation, our experts bring world first technology to the hunt for the unknown predator, they'll track the probable location of his secret lair by mapping every clue and finding new connections.

MAPPING A MURDERER

Using a world-first software system developed by global giant Esri, our experts aim to complete a picture of these horrific crimes in the hope that someone, somewhere might help identify Mr Cruel.

With 40 years of experience as a senior law enforcement investigator, Mike King is also an expert in the technology called GIS – a geographic information system that collects locations, weather, and aerial imagery to search for new connections.

How new technology could help unmask one of Australia's most wanted predators (2)

Of all the unsolved cases in Australian criminal history, Mr Cruel is perhaps the one that could benefit most using GIS technology.

THE FIRST ATTACK

At 4AM on August the 22nd 1987, a nightmare begins at a house in the Melbourne suburb of Lower Plenty.

Wearing a balaclava and armed with a knife and gun, Mr. Cruel breaks in to find an eleven year old girl asleep and her parents in another room.

He ties and gags them with electrical tape and forces them into a wardrobe. He assaults the girl over the course of several hours, drowning out the sound with the radio.

He even makes himself a snack in the kitchen and then he bathes his victim, ensuring he leaves no forensic trace and goes.

From his first known crime, it was clear to investigators that Mr. Cruel was a meticulous planner and probably had his victim's home under close surveillance.

"It was all about control. Obviously, he'd done his homework, and he knew exactly what he was doing," John Sylvester, a veteran crime reporter, and co-author of the acclaimed Underbelly series tells the panel.

"You're dealing with a psychopath. Psychopaths are notorious for having no anxiety." Tim Watson-Monro, a criminal psychologist, who profiled Mr. Cruel says.

MR CRUEL STRIKES AGAIN

On December 27th, 1988, two days after Christmas, Mr. Cruel strikes again.

At around 5:30 in the morning, masked in a balaclava with white stitching around the mouth and eyes, he breaks in as the family sleeps.

He then drives his 10-year-old victim to an unknown location and assaults her over the next 18 hours, he then releases the young girl at a high school near the Bayswater electrical substation.

She is wearing nothing but garbage bags and again, Mr. Cruel has left no forensic evidence of his assault.

How new technology could help unmask one of Australia's most wanted predators (3)

It's a chilling warning to police that the predator they're dealing with is on the next level of cunning.

"He makes them wash a number of times, brush their teeth, takes their clothes and in fact carries them, to me that tells me he knows about contact trace evidence," Charlie Bezzina, a retired detective senior sergeant, who was handed the Mr Cruel case, tells the panel.

Despite her trauma, the young girl was able to distinguish that what she heard was an aircraft landing.

At the time of the abduction there were only two incoming flight paths to Tullamarine airport, which tracked from east to west.

By adding layers to our map, our experts can narrow down the location of Mr Cruel's safe house, to the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

THE CHILLING RAMPAGE CONTINUES

On Wednesday, July 3rd, 1990, eighteen months since Mr Cruel's last attack, a British couple on their way to a farewell party leave their two daughters aged fifteen and thirteen at home.

At around 11:30 pm the girls are woken by a masked intruder, armed with a knife.

Mr. Cruel ties up the older sister and tells the 13-year-old to get her school uniform.

He then abducts her and drives into the night.

"This is the moment when Melbourne held its breath," Veteran crime reporter John Silvester says.

"By this stage, it was known it was a serial offender and that effectively no family was safe."

If Mr Cruel takes his third victim to the same safe house where he'd assaulted his second, 18 months before, the GIS technology puts him in the area of northeast Melbourne.

"From a geographic perspective we just have to keep thinking, why is he comfortable in this area? Why is he selecting the victims where he is? And why is he disposing of them where he is?" Mike King tells the panel.

After two days and nights in Mr Cruel's lair, his third victim is released in the early hours of the morning at an electricity substation, about 10 minute drive from her house.

The GIS data map now reveals an extraordinary pattern; both abducted victims were released near electricity substations, Kew and Bayswater.

The eerie link between electrical substations and the locations of Mr Cruel's crimes suggests he may have had a connection to the electricity industry.

THE DAMNING WITNESS ACCOUNT

In 1988, a woman, who was a friend and neighbour of Mr Cruel's second victim, says her brothers reported seeing a strange man filming the victim's house six weeks before her school friend was abducted.

"Only someone who knew those power lines and the access it had to the houses on the back fence, because you can see over the fence without anyone noticing what you're doing," the witness tells the panel.

MR CRUEL'S THIRD DEPRAVED ATTACK

On April the 13th 1991, 13-year-old Karmein Chan is babysitting her two sisters in her home in Templestowe, Melbourne.

The 13-year-old and her sisters are suddenly confronted by a knife wielding man, wearing a balaclava.

He forces the two young sisters into a cupboard, then drags Karmein out by her hair.

She will never be seen alive again.

Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro assisted the police task force hunting Mr Cruel tells the panel he believes the attacks were pre-planned.

"He knows what he's doing," Watson-Munro says.

"He was struggling in a way that the fantasies hadn't reached the point of perhaps having an assault against the child and then killing the child."

The police investigation into Mr. Cruel is now supercharged.

Nearly 11,000 leads will be investigated, around 27,000 suspects interviewed and a reward of $100,000 is offered, but there's no sign of Karmein nor Mr. Cruel.

Then on April 9, 1992, almost exactly one year after her disappearance, Karmein's remains are found.

But some, like John Sylvester remained unconvinced the killer was Mr Cruel, while former Victorian homicide detective Charlie Bezzina believes there's a clear reason why Mr Cruel was the killer.

"I think looking at the profile of Mr. Cruel that his world has been destroyed, she's seen him. He's lost control because now she's seen his face. And in anger, he just shot her three times," he says.

Karmein's remains were found near the Thomastown terminal station, which connects to the smaller substations near where Mr Cruel's other victims lived or were dumped.

"I do not believe in coincidences, no. There are absolute reasons why he selected the victims he did."

WHERE IS MR CRUEL?

Mr. Cruel left terrible anguish, but no clues in his wake.

It was if Australia's most wanted predator had simply vanished.

There are a number of theories why Mr Cruel seemingly disappeared, but criminal profiler Mike King believes if he is still alive somewhere, he is still hunting.

"I believe that he probably continued to offend and that there were other victims if they could ever be identified, that would show us how he's continuing to escalate," he says.

And there may be other unsolved cases that can now be linked to Mr Cruel based on the patterns revealed by Under Investigation's data mapping.

"I think you never give up as an investigator. This case is solvable," Charlie Bezzina tells the panel.

"He's still out there amongst us."

"He may have confided to somebody, or somebody may well have the suspicions," John Silvester says.

"We know there is a Mr. Cruel, and it is solvable."

If anybody has new information, please call crime stoppers on 1800 333 000.

If this story has raised issues for you and you would like to speak to someone, there are people who care and are ready to listen. Call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

How new technology could help unmask one of Australia's most wanted predators (4)Stream the latest episodesEp 10 Death of a Model Ep 9 For The Love of EdenEp 8 Shots FiredHow new technology could help unmask one of Australia's most wanted predators (8)

How new technology could help unmask one of Australia's most wanted predators (2024)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Tyson Zemlak

Last Updated:

Views: 6113

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (43 voted)

Reviews: 90% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Tyson Zemlak

Birthday: 1992-03-17

Address: Apt. 662 96191 Quigley Dam, Kubview, MA 42013

Phone: +441678032891

Job: Community-Services Orchestrator

Hobby: Coffee roasting, Calligraphy, Metalworking, Fashion, Vehicle restoration, Shopping, Photography

Introduction: My name is Tyson Zemlak, I am a excited, light, sparkling, super, open, fair, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.